In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ, glory
forever. Dear brothers and sisters, in Christ,
my dear friends, here we are once again. We hear
a gospel of our Lord's compassion. He's there
with 5 ,000 people, which to us right now, a
gathering of 5 ,000 Christians, doesn't seem
quite possible. But we are not dismayed. We are
not disturbed. Because whether it's the 12 apostles
only, or 5 ,000, God is with us. And he feeds
us, too. Let us not be dismayed, but have hope
and courage. It has to be said that Jesus was
not a politician. The people thought he might
be. They wanted to make him king after he fed
them, which is why the gospel ends with, and
immediately he told the apostles to get into
the boat and get out of there, and he sent the
multitude away. They wanted to make him a king.
The Lord didn't organize political rallies. He
didn't have to. In fact, after John the Baptist
was murdered by Herod, which you can read about
in the previous few verses that we just heard
from what we just heard, Jesus wanted to be alone.
He went away with his disciples into a boat and
along the shore multitudes are following to keep
track of the sail of the boat. Where is he going
to be? Where is he going to be? Why? Because
he had compassion on them and he loved them.
Have you noticed how Jesus' hands transformed
everything? Everything he touched. A blind man
who lived in the blackest night, when he was
touched by Jesus' hands, color and light came
into his eyes and his soul. A widow's son died,
and the poor woman was in terrible grief. And
he says to her, weep not. He touches the coffin,
and the man, the cold corpse, rises up. Today's
Gospel. Lord's compassion for the multitude,
5 ,000 families, following him for miles and
miles to be with him, and when they caught up
with him, they were with him all day, listening
to him, and it says he healed them. He healed
the sick, and he taught them. We are Christians.
We follow the way of Christ. We are to be like
Christ. This is our goal. God gives us so much
grace that you know we can be like God. God became
man so that we could be like him. God is compassionate.
Christianity without compassion is only a religion.
And a religion without compassion, as we've seen
over and over again, and are now seen in living
color, gives birth to great evils. It can sneak
up on you. Be compassionate. The blessed hands
of Jesus, which would be nailed to the cross,
which Thomas would want to see as proof, here
take a bit of bread and a couple of fish, a young
man's sack lunch, basically. And he touches them,
and they multiply. And he gives them to the apostles,
and 12 baskets are left over. You notice what
it says. He gives thanks, and he breaks the bread,
looking up to heaven. And all, it says, all were
satisfied. How rare that is. All were satisfied.
Something that happens extremely infrequently
in any community, in any family, in any situation.
Here, before Jesus, all were satisfied. Without
Jesus, we do not and have never will have adequate
resources to meet anyone else's needs to satisfy
ourself even. But we do. We do have. What we
do have is the blessed opportunity to quit complaining
about what we don't have and to thank God for
what we do have and to trust God who places his
hands on whatever meager offering and effort
and prayer and prostration and song. Lift up
your voices, my brothers and sisters, today.
Sing. We're outside. Sing. God will add to that
with the angels. And he will fill every need
we have. This goes for parish life. This goes
for our fellowship. Our God is the God of abundance.
Jesus says, I have come that they may have life
and have life more abundantly. Eternal life.
But like the people in the gospel, after we're
fed and satisfied, we want something else from
Jesus. That's not quite enough. And he wants
to give us something else. But it's often not
what we want, it's what we need. The apostle
Paul assures us in Philippians that God shall
supply all your need. He doesn't say wants and
whims, but all our need according to his riches
and glory by Christ Jesus. So begin with prayer.
Put your heart in the prayer and see how God
will lift that up and multiply that effort and
grant grace and pour it upon you. Give us this
day our daily bread. Isn't that enough? The word
daily there in Greek is iperousion, which means
enough to get us through tomorrow. But it also
means something else. St. Cyprian of Carthage
says it's the bread of the holy altar. That the
feeding of the 5 ,000 families was a foreshadowing
of the holy Eucharist. Today, We're going to
be fed by God himself. When you see my hand and
the spoon, believe it is the hand of Christ.
That's why this cup is here, so that my hand
is no longer contiguous with my arm. It becomes
Christ's hand, we believe. And let us be satisfied.
Saint. St. Simeon, the new theologian, writes
in his prayer before communion something like,
Having been given the deified body and blood,
O Christ, we are no longer alone, but are with
thee, who does illumine the whole world. St.
Theophon says this, When going to the holy mysteries,
go with simplicity of heart, in full faith that
you will receive the Lord within yourself. and
with proper reverence towards this. What is your
state of mind after this? Leave it to the Lord.
Many desire ahead of time to receive that or
this from Holy Communion, and then, not seeing
what they wanted, they're troubled. And even
their faith is in the power of the mystery which
is shaken. The fault lies not with the Holy Mystery
of Communion, but with superficial assumptions.
Do not promise yourself anything. Leave everything
to the Lord, asking a single mercy from him to
strengthen you in every kind of good so that
you will be acceptable to him and filled with
his compassion. The fruit of communion most often
is a taste of sweet peace, of God's compassion
in the heart. Sometimes it brings enlightenment
to our thought. Sometimes inspiration to our
devotion to the Lord. Sometimes almost nothing
is apparent. But afterward, in one's affairs
and relationships, there is strength and steadfastness
in Christ. Because he has given us himself. To
our Lord be glory, now and ever, to ages of ages.
Amen.